Is your sales team breaking through

09 May Is your sales team breaking through

Maybe there’s more to it

There are many similarities between the Charge of the Light Brigade and some sales operations. In the Crimean War the British cavalry – the Light Brigade – went charging (in a brave and orderly fashion) into what became known as the Valley of Death, smack bang into Russian artillery and infantry. The result was fairly predictable, caused by misinformation and petty internal rivalry. A war correspondent reported: “Our Light Brigade was annihilated by their own rashness and the brutality of a ferocious enemy.”

How often do we send our sales teams – brave and willing – into the field only to be decimated?

Here are three areas which are often overlooked but will help your sales team:

1. RAISE THE FLAG

We’ve discussed this elsewhere, but your brand is everything. It is the flag that your sales team carries into battle every day, providing confidence and recognition. It scares competitors when you’re winning, it is your rallying call when you’re losing. Start thinking about the flag that you carry into the field each day -your brand.

2. ONE ENEMY, ONE CHARGE, ONE TEAM

The sales team is the sharp point but it needs the combined efforts of your entire business behind them to combat the “ferociousness” of the competitors and allow you to win.

Production. IT. HR. Marketing. Distribution. Finance. And the Executive. Remember, it is the job of the executive to determine strategy, providing common purpose.

3. SEND IN THE INFANTRY AND ARTILLERY. AND SOME PRECISION GUIDED STUFF TOO.

But it’s all about selecting the most appropriate “weapons” to support sales. You have a sales or revenue budget, supported by a marketing plan which must be resourced and supported by communications actions. There are literally hundreds of communications options but not all of them will help you to achieve your objectives.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using traditional infantry or precision guided missiles or ideally both, your only concern is “what will best help my sales team to achieve their budgets?”.